• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.354-361
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• 2021

This study explored whether the transition to living with a chronic disease changes the level of depression symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in South Korea. We hypothesize that the transition to living with chronic disease leads to a higher level of depressive symptoms. A nationally representative sample (N = 6,284) of adults 45 years and older from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) was analyzed. Multi-regression modeling was used to examine the association between the diagnosis of chronic disease and the level of depressive symptoms in patients. The findings highlight the need for policy makers, clinicians, as well as patients and their caregivers to become more aware of mental health risks in patients diagnosed with chronic diseases, particularly first-time patients. This study contributes to encouraging greater psychosocial support, including monitoring the level of depressive symptoms of patients who develop chronic conditions and providing appropriate treatments for those at the highest risk.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.624-633
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• 2012

This study was executed to provide the basic data that can be helpful for a program aiming at the enhancement of life quality or establishment of policy related to public health by analyzing the importance of health state among the middle-aged adults when it came to the decision of life quality. For 160 adults who were older than 40 years old, a survey was conducted and the results were derived by using t-test, one way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. Followings are the outcome of the study. According to such results, it was known that the level of general life quality and oral health related life quality were shown to be different depending on symptoms of depression and xerostomia. Therefore, it suggests that prevention and early intervention of depression and xerostomia will make a great contribution to improve the life quality among the middle-aged adults.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the incidence rate, surgery tendency, and risk factors of cataracts among the elderly in Korea. The subjects were 40-95 years old men and women using the National Health Services' surgical statistics. Among the 33 major surgeries, which increased by 1.1% per year for the last 20years (1.6 million), the most operated surgery in 2020 was cataract surgery (454,000), the number of which was 858.8 per 100,000 people. Among the surgical patients, cataract patients (7.9% increased) was the third largest among the top (2016-2020) constantly with annually 2.2% increasing for 20 years (19.95 million). The medical expenses of major surgeries (excluding non-benefit) increased by an average rate of 9.3% per year over the 20 years (7,204 billion won) out of a total medical expenses of 7.2 trillion won, and the cataract surgery (813.2 billion won) was the second largest among the medical expenses in 2020 (top 3). This study showed that there was a high correlation between cataract and smoking, low income, and low-educated, whereas being no concentration of cataract patient in tertiary hospitals.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Background: Oral frailty is defined as the functional decline of the oral function due to aging, and it is associated with frailty and chronic disease. Most of the frailty intervention is for adults aged 65 years and older. However, early intervention for preventive disorder is most important. The objective of this study was to identify the age at which oral frailty surpass the "normal" range. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 719 adults (aged 30~89 years) residing in Gangwon province in May 2023. Risk of oral frailty was assessed using criteria from The Korean Academy of Geriatric Dentistry including oral function such as swallowing and mastication, and frailty. Frailty was assessed using the Kihon Checklist. To determine when oral frailty surpass the "normal" status, statistical analysis including chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed using R (ver. 4.3.1). Results: There were 388 (54.0%) individuals who had a "normal" status risk of oral frailty. The risk of oral frailty was higher in the 50~54 age group compared to the 30~34 age group (odds ratio [OR] 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.28~0.91), after adjusting for gender, education, income, occupation, and frailty (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.22~0.94). This means that from 50~54 years old, regardless of gender, education, income, occupation, or frailty condition, there is a distinction from the "normal" status. Conclusion: We found that intervention for oral frailty is needed starting from age 50 years. This is the stage where early indications of oral frailty become apparent. Early intervention for oral frailty can lead to a decrease in the prevalence of diseases and medical expenditure. Therefore, early intervention in middle-aged adults of oral frailty is necessary to improve the quality of life related to oral health.

• Informatization Policy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.55-71
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• 2020

Digital accessibility of the middle-aged and elderly has been increasing at a faster pace than other groups such as the handicapped and adolescents. However, studies related to the digital accessibility of middle and older adults are scarce. In order to examine variables affecting accessibility to digital information of the middle-aged and elderly people, this study researches the impacts of sociodemographic, physical and mental health and social activity variables on the accessibility of digital information. We analyzed data of 1,661 people between the ages of 55 and 84 from the 2018 Status Survey on Digital Divide conducted by the National Information Society Agency. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis shows the higher education, economic, and life satisfaction levels are, the higher digital accessibility levels of both male and female are. The result of the analysis also shows that the aged male has a higher accessibility level when he does not live alone; meanwhile, the aged female has higher digital capability as her age is lower, which describes that there are differences between gender. We expect the result of this study to be used as an important reference to understand factors related to digital accessibility level and active intervention for improving digital accessibility of the middle-aged and elderly male and female.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.159-170
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the distribution and exposure prevalence of total carbohydrate intake and the carbohydrate-based foods such as rice, noodles, sweet potatoes, sweet drinks, milk and fruits and to characterize intake patterns among obese Korean adults. Methods: Subjects included 137,363 adults aged 40 years or older who participated in a Health Examinees (HEXA) Study. Multiple regression analysis of data from Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQFFQ) identified food sources of carbohydrates. Weight, height and waist circumstance (WC) were measured, and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Obesity was defined as $BMI{\geq}25kg/m^2$ and abdominal obesity as $WC{\geq}90cm$ and ${\geq}85cm$ for males and females, respectively. Results: Obese adults appeared to have a higher total carbohydrate intake in the univariate analysis but had eaten less after adjustment for general and lifestyle factors, compared to normal weight adults (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.73-0.82 for general obesity; OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.74-0.85, for abdominal obesity; P trend < 0.0001, respectively). Based on advance analysis for the food sources of carbohydrates, obese subjects had lower intake of rice (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.68 -1.09 for general obesity; OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.67-1.13, for abdominal obesity; P trend < 0.0001, respectively) and higher intake of noodles (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.16-1.27 for general obesity; OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.19-1.32, for abdominal obesity; P trend < 0.0001 respectively). With regard to other food sources of carbohydrates such as milk and fruits, intake was lower among obese compared to normal weight subjects. Conclusions: In the Korean middle-aged and older obesity groups, the intake of carbohydrates and the related foods was lower than in normal weight subjects, except for noodles. We conclude that a higher intake of noodles may enhance weight-gain. Therefore, this study suggested that the guidelines should consider the types of carbohydrate sources and the amount consumed from foods in order to provide proper guidance with regard to control and prevent obesity among Korean adults.

• Journal of Leisure Studies
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.43-63
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to explore the behavior of senior models, and develop a substantive theory. We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 senior models who are 50 years and older. The criterion for inclusion was being a senior model who were actively performing by the time the study was conducted. To ensure trustworthiness of the study, we conducted member checks and peer debriefing. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed using the principles of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). A three-step coding process consisting of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding resulted in identifying a core category - rediscovering the lost self. Our findings suggest that senior modeling activities can be an effective modality to promote well-being of older adults.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.117-141
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences of the factors affecting the entry of depression by generations and to present a practical strategy for preventing of depression by life-cycle. For this purpose, we analyzed the factors influencing the depression of adults, middle-aged and elderly people through the discrete-time hazard model. The results of this study are as follows: First, the lower the self-esteem, the lower the income satisfaction and the family satisfaction people have, the higher the likelihood of entering the depression they have. In addition, age, educational level, health status, presence of chronic diseases, employment status, regional area, and leisure life satisfaction were variables that showed difference by generation. In the case of adulthood(aged 20 ~ 39), unemployed persons are more likely to enter the depression than younger workers. On the other hand, the middle-aged(40 ~ 64 year olds) are more likely to enter the depression if they are older, have poor health status, have no chronic disease, and have low leisure satisfaction. Finally, older people(aged 65 and over) are more likely to enter the depression when the education level is higher, the health condition is worse, and the leisure satisfaction is lower. If they lived in an urban and rural complex, they are more likely to enter the depression. Based on these results, it is necessary to establish a support plan reflecting the characteristics revealed by generations in order to prevent the entry of depression.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.184-198
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• 2023

Early prevention of sarcopenia can be an important strategy for muscle maintenance, but most studies target subjects at slightly pre-sarcopenic state. Our previous paper describes the effect of protein supplements rich in leucine and vitamin D on muscle condition, and in this paper, we performed a sub-analysis to evaluate who benefitted the most in terms of improvement in muscle health. A 12-week randomized clinical trial of 120 healthy adults (aged 50 to 80) assigned to an intervention group (n = 60) or control group (n = 60) were analyzed. Subjects in the intervention group received, twice per day, a protein supplement containing (per serving) 800 IU of vitamin D, 20 g of protein (3 g of total leucine), 300 mg of calcium, 1.1 g of fat, and 2.5 g of carbohydrate. The subjects were classified into 'insufficient' and 'sufficient' groups at 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) value of 30 ng/mL. The skeletal muscle mass index normalized to the square of the skeletal muscle mass (SMM) height (kg/m²) increased significantly in the 'insufficient group' difference value of change between weeks 0 and 12 (Δ1.07 ± 2.20; p = 0.037). The SMM normalized by body weight (kg/kg, %) was higher, but not significantly, in the insufficient group (Δ0.38 ± 0.69; p = 0.050). For people with insufficient (serum 25[OH]D), supplemental intake of protein and vitamin D, calcium, and leucine and adequate energy intake increases muscle mass in middle-aged and older adults and would be likely to exert a beneficial effect on muscle health.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.292-294
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• 2016

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a new treatment for refractory heart failure. However, most patients with heart failure treated with CRT are adults, middle-aged or older with idiopathic or ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. We treated a 12-year-old boy, who was transferred after cardiac arrest, with dilated cardiomyopathy, left bundle-branch block, and ventricular tachycardia. We performed cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-D). After CRT-D, left ventricular ejection fraction improved from 22% to 4 4% assessed by echocardiogram 1 year postoperatively. On electrocardiogram, QRS duration was shortened from 206 to 144 ms. The patient's clinical symptoms also improved. For pediatric patients with refractory heart failure and ventricular arrhythmia, CRT-D could be indicated as an effective therapeutic option.